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The Sikh
community in Luton is throwing open their doors so that more people
can find out about their faith.
The Guru Nanak
Sikh Gurdwara in Dallow Road is having a series of fun and informational
activities under the title Who Are The Sikhs so that more can be
learnt about their religion.
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Who
Are The Sikhs events:
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- Open
days at Guru Nanak Gurdwara, 2A Dallow Road, Luton until
Sunday 14 July. School children visiting each day.
- Friday
12 July: Reading of 1,430 pages of the holy book Guru Granth
begins for the next 48 hours, finishing at 10.30am on Sunday
14 July.
- Saturday
13 July: Children's mini-camp starts at 4pm. Bouncy castle,
football, fireworks with a brief talk about Sikhism. Children
of all ages welcomed.
- Sunday
14 July: 10.30am finishing of Guru Granth reading. Followed
by Kirtina Jatha (various religious singers). Children singing
from 2pm-3pm, then 3pm - 4pm Gatha (Indian Martial Arts)
display.
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And you can
email any questions you have to us at threecounties@bbc.co.uk and we will forward them, with the answers being
posted on Monday 15 July.
There are between
1,500 and 2,000 Sikhs in Luton who worship at Dallow Road.
Exhibition co-ordinator
Jasbir Singh explained why the event was taking place: "Who
Are The Sikhs aims to give people a knowledge of Sikhs themselves.
"People
are not aware of who we really are. Many people get us mixed up
with others like Islamic groups or Hindus.
"We want
to show genuine Sikhs - not to show that we are perfect, as like
every group we have our own mischief makers - but we want people
to have the knowledge so when they are walking down the street,
they can identify us and know what we are all about."
Jasbir said
that after the September 11 New York tragedy, many Sikhs became
the target of hate crime.
"We wear
turbans and that makes us stand out from others, "said Jasbir.
"Many people
know that the first person to be arrested after September 11th was
a Sikh, but do they know that the first person to be targeted and
murdered as a result was a Sikh - and that the first doctor to enter
the scene was a Sikh, who risked his life because of his faith to
help those injured in the tragedy."
The special
exhibition is running until Sunday 14 July, but Jasbir said that
anyone who was interested in the faith would be welcomed at any
time.
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Few
Sikhs facts:
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- The
word Sikh means a disciple and comes from the ancient Sanskrit
word shishya.
- Inside
the Gurdwara, worshippers should take off their shoes and
cover their heads.
- Baptised
Sikhs wake up every morning at 3am to meditate and do evening
prayers at around 6pm and then a final prayer before bed.
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There are an
estimated 500,000 Sikhs in the UK and 22 million across the globe
- it's the fifth biggest religion.
There has been
a Sikh temple in Luton since 1976. Initially this was a three-bedroomed
house in Portland Road, which then bought out the whole row of terraced
houses.
The Gurdwara
then progressed to the existing building which was the former Dallow
Road Junior School.
Email any questions
you have to us at threecounties@bbc.co.uk and we will forward them to Jasbir, with the
answers being posted on Monday 15 July.
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